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Germanium quantum dots (QDs) embedded in SiO2 or in Si3N4 have been studied for light harvesting purposes. SiGeO or SiGeN thin films, produced by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, have been annealed up to 850 °C to induce Ge QD precipitation in Si based matrices. By varying the Ge content, the QD diameter can be tuned in the 3-9 nm range in the SiO2 matrix, or in the 1-2 nm range in the Si3N4 matrix, as measured by transmission electron microscopy. Thus, Si3N4 matrix hosts Ge QDs at higher density and more closely spaced than SiO2 matrix. Raman spectroscopy revealed a higher threshold for amorphous-to-crystalline transition for Ge QDs embedded in Si3N4 matrix in comparison with those in the SiO2 host. Light absorption by Ge QDs is shown to be more effective in Si3N4 matrix, due to the optical bandgap (0.9-1.6 eV) being lower than in SiO2 matrix (1.2-2.2 eV). Significant photoresponse with a large measured internal quantum efficiency has been observed for Ge QDs in Si3N4 matrix when they are used as a sensitive layer in a photodetector device. These data will be presented and discussed, opening new routes for application of Ge QDs in light harvesting devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultrafast crystallization of amorphous germanium (a-Ge) in ambient has been studied. Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition grown a-Ge was irradiated with single femtosecond laser pulses of various durations with a range of fluences from below melting to above ablation threshold. Extensive use of Raman scattering has been employed to determine post solidification features aided by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy measurements. Linewidth of the Ge optic phonon at 300 cm-1 as a function of laser fluence provides a signature for the crystallization of a-Ge. Various crystallization regimes including nanostructures in the form of nanospheres have been identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of thin polymer films in optical planar integrated optical circuits is rapidly increasing. Much interest, therefore, has been devoted to characterizing the optical and mechanical properties of thin polymer films. This study focuses on measuring the elasto-optical properties of three different polymers; polystyrene, polymethyl-methacrylate, and benzocyclobutane. The out-of-plane elastic modulus, refractive index, film thickness, and birefringence of thin polymer films were determined by means of the prism coupling technique. The effect of the applied stress on the refractive index and birefringence of the films was investigated. Three-dimensional finite element method analysis was used so as to obtain the principal stresses for each polymer system, and combining them with the stress dependent refractive index measurements, the elasto-optic coefficients of the polymer films were determined. It was found that the applied stress in the out-of-plane direction of the thin films investigated leads to negative elasto-optic coefficients, as observed for all the three thin polymer films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Separation of transverse modes in waveguides typically achieved by manipulating mode effective indices is of current interest in integrated optics and various designs have been proposed. Recently, implementation of non-Hermitian optics under parity time (PT) symmetry has led to an alternate class of devices employing gain and loss media with far reaching results. Introduction of PT symmetry to non-Hermitian systems results in real solutions while symmetry breaking results in imaginary eigenvalues. However, applications of PT symmetry in the infrared devices is quite limited. In this work, we demonstrate a mode splitter that can separate transverse modes in coupled PT symmetric in realistic quantum cascade lasers (QC lasers). We study the effects of gain and loss for coupled PT symmetric QC laser waveguides and show that TE0 and TE1 modes can be separated with proper choice of gain and loss values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optical power output is the most sought-after quantity in laser engineering. This is also true for quantum cascade lasers operating especially at long wavelengths. Buried heterostructure cascade lasers with epitaxial regrowth have typically shown the lowest loss due to high current confinement as well as superior lateral thermal conductivity at the expense of complexity and cost. Among the many factors affecting optical output are the widely used passivating materials such as Si3N4 and SiO2. These materials have substantial optical absorption in the long wavelength infrared, which results in optical loss reducing the output of the laser. In this letter, we report on quantum cascade lasers with various waveguide widths and cavity lengths using both PECVD grown Si3N4 and e-beam evaporated HfO2 as passivating material on the same structure. Their slope efficiency was measured, and the cavity losses for the two lasers were calculated. We show that HfO2 passivated lasers have approximately 5.5 cm−1 lower cavity loss compared to Si3N4 passivated lasers. We observe up to 38% reduction in lasing threshold current, for lasers with HfO2 passivation. We model the losses of the cavity due to both insulator and metal contacts of the lasers using Comsol Multiphysics for various widths. We find that the loss due to absorption in the dielectric is a significant effect for Si3N4 passivated lasers and lasers in the 8–12- $\mu \text{m}$ range may benefit from low loss passivation materials such as HfO2. Our results suggest that low-loss long wavelength quantum cascade lasers can be realized without epitaxial overgrowth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Germanium nanocrystals embedded in a siliconoxide matrix has been fabricated by single femtosecond laser pulse irradiation of germanium doped SiO2 thin films deposited with plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. SEM and AFM are used to analyze surface modification induced by laser irradiation. Crystallization of Ge in the oxide matrix is monitored with the optic phonon at 300 cm-1 as a function of laser fluence. Both the position the linewidth of the phonon provides clear signature for crystallization of Ge. In PL experiments, strong luminescence around 600 nm has been observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface plasmon polariton (SPP) waveguides formed by coupled plasmonic cavities on metallic Moire surfaces have been investigated both experimentally and numerically. The Moire surface, fabricated by interference lithography, contains periodic arrays of one-dimensional cavities. The coupling strength between the cavities has been controlled by changing the periodicities of the Moire surface. The ability to control the coupling strength allows us to tune the dispersion and the group velocity of the plasmonic coupled cavity mode. Reflection measurements and numerical simulation of the array of SPP cavities have shown a coupled resonator type plasmonic waveguide band formation within the band gap. Coupling coefficients of cavities and group velocities of SPPs are calculated for a range of cavity sizes from weakly coupled regime to strongly coupled regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In view of the progress on the confinement of light, we report on the dispersion characteristics of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) on two-dimensional Moiré surfaces in the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Polarization dependent spectroscopic reflection measurements show omnidirectional confinement of SPPs. The resonance wavelength of SPP cavity modes can be adjusted by tuning the propagation direction of SPPs. The results may have an impact on the control of spontaneous emission and absorption with applications in light emitting diodes and solar cells, as well as in quantum electrodynamics experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate slow surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) in plasmonic waveguiding bands formed by coupled plasmonic cavities on Moiré surfaces. We demonstrate controlling the group velocity and dispersion of the SPPs by varying the depth of the plasmonic Bragg grating groove. Changing the grating depth results in modification of coupling coefficients between the cavities and hence the SPPs group velocity is altered. Variation in the group velocity and dispersion of SPPs can be measured with polarization dependent spectroscopic reflection measurements. Dispersion of SPPs has been calculated by finite-difference time-domain method in agreement with the experimental data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electron and hole charge and discharge dynamics are studied on plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition grown metal-oxide-silicon germanium nanocrystal flash memory devices. Electron and hole charge and discharge currents are observed to differ significantly and depend on annealing conditions chosen for the formation of nanocrystals. At low annealing temperatures, holes are seen to charge slower but to escape faster than electrons. They discharge slower than electrons when annealing temperatures are raised. The results suggest that discharge currents are dominated by the interface layer acting as a quantum well for holes and by direct tunneling for elec-trons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use a dedicated Z-scan setup, arranged to account for cumulative effects, to study the nonlinear optical response of Ge nanocrystals embedded in silica matrix. Samples are prepared with plasma-enchanced chemical-vapor deposition and post-thermal annealing. We measure a third-order nonlinear refraction coefficient of γ=1×10-16 m2/W. The nonlinear absorption shows an intensity-independent coefficient of β=4×10-10 m/W related to fast processes. In addition, we measure a second β component around 10-9 m/W with a relaxation time of 300 μs that rises linearly with the laser intensity. We associate its origin to the absorption of excited carriers from a surface-defect state with a long depopulation time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking advantage of the favorable Gibbs free energies, atomic layer deposited (ALD) aluminum oxide (Al2O3) was used as a novel approach for passivation of type II InAs/GaSb superlattice (SL) midwave infrared (MWIR) single pixel photodetectors in a self cleaning process (λcut-off ∼ 5.1 μm). Al2O3 passivated and unpassivated diodes were compared for their electrical and optical performances. For passivated diodes, the dark current density was improved by an order of magnitude at 77 K. The zero bias responsivity and detectivity was 1.33 A/W and 1.9 × 1013 Jones, respectively at 4 μm and 77 K. Quantum efficiency (QE) was determined as %41 for these detectors. This conformal passivation technique is promising for focal plane array (FPA) applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on systematic growth and characterization of low-loss germanosilicate layers for use in optical waveguide technology. The films were deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique using silane, germane, and nitrous oxide as precursor gases. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to monitor the compositional properties of the samples. It was found that addition of germane leads to decreasing of N–H- and O–H-related bonds. The propagation loss values of the planar waveguides were correlated with the decrease in the hydrogen-related bonds of the as-deposited waveguides and resulted in very low values, eliminating the need for high-temperature annealing as is usually done. © 2003 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the effects of monolayer (ML) thick skin-like octadecanethiol (ODT, CH3[CH2]17SH) on type-II InAs/GaSb MWIR photodetectors. Circumventing the ageing effects of conventional sulfur compounds, we use ODT, a self-assembling, long molecular chain headed with a sulfur atom. Photodiodes coated with and without the self-assembled monolayer (SAM) ODT were compared for their electrical and optical performances. For ODT-coated diodes, the dark current density was improved by two orders of magnitude at 77 K under −100 mV bias. The zero bias responsivity and detectivity were 1.04 A W−1 and 2.15 × 1013 Jones, respectively, at 4 µm and 77 K. The quantum efficiency was determined to be 37% for a cutoff wavelength of 5.1 µm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the quest to raise the operating temperature and improve the detectivity of type II superlattice (T2SL) photodetectors, we introduce a design approach that we call the 'N structure.' N structure aims to improve absorption by manipulating electron and hole wavefunctions that are spatially separated in T2SLs, increasing the absorption while decreasing the dark current. In order to engineer the wavefunctions, we introduce a thin AlSb layer between InAs and GaSb layers in the growth direction which also acts as a unipolar electron barrier. Unlike the symmetrical insertion of AlSb into GaSb layers, N design aims to exploit the shifting of the electron and hole wavefunctions under reverse bias. With cutoff wavelength of 4.3 μm at 77 K, temperature dependent dark current and detectivity measurements show that the dark current density is 3.6 × 10-9 A/cm2, under zero bias. Photodetector reaches background limited infrared photodetection (BLIP) condition at 125 K with the BLIP detectivity (D*BLIP) of 2.6 × 1010 Jones under 300 K background and -0.3 V bias voltage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]